BLM concludes Pancake Complex Wild Horse Gather

Ely, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District, Egan Field Office and Battle Mountain District, Tonopah Field Office concluded the Pancake Complex Wild Horse Gather on Saturday, Feb. 11. The BLM gathered 1,115 wild horses from the Pancake and Sand Springs West Herd Management Areas (HMA) and Jakes Wash Herd Area (HA), located about 30 miles west of Ely or 80 miles northeast of Tonopah, Nev. The BLM released 287 wild horses, including 124 mares treated with the fertility vaccine PZP, back to the HMAs.

The 819 wild horses removed from the Complex were transported to the Palomino Valley Center outside Reno, Nev., and the Gunnison Correctional Facility, in Utah, to be prepared for the BLM’s adoption program. Un-adopted wild horses will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not sell or send any wild horses to slaughter.

Removing the excess wild horses will help to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship as required under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as well as help to achieve and maintain healthy wild horse and burro populations.

The gather began on January 12. An Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) veterinarian was on site daily through the gather to evaluate animal conditions and provide recommendations to the on-site BLM wild horse and burro specialist for care and treatment.

BLM staff utilized the Henneke body condition scale to classify gathered wild horses. On a scale from one to nine (one being poor condition and nine being extremely fat), the horses were generally a body condition score of four, with a few wild horses observed to be higher or lower.

For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at (775) 289-1842 or by email at chanefel@blm.gov.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.